IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/revfin/v8y2004i1p109-127..html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Why is the Index Smile So Steep?

Author

Listed:
  • Nicole Branger
  • Christian Schlag

Abstract

Empirical evidence shows that the implied volatility smiles for index options are significantly steeper than those for individual options. We propose a model setup where we start from the joint dynamics of the stocks and where the index value is a weighted sum of individual stock prices. Then the differences between the index smile and the smiles for individual stocks are entirely determined by the dependence structure among the stocks. We illustrate our idea in a jump-diffusion framework where both the diffusion and the jumps are decomposed into common and idiosyncratic components. Empirical data for options on the German stock index DAX and on Deutsche Bank are used to show that the model can explain the stylized facts on implied volatility smiles.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicole Branger & Christian Schlag, 2004. "Why is the Index Smile So Steep?," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 8(1), pages 109-127.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:revfin:v:8:y:2004:i:1:p:109-127.
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1023/B:EUFI.0000022159.33778.fd
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bakshi, Gurdip & Cao, Charles & Chen, Zhiwu, 1997. "Empirical Performance of Alternative Option Pricing Models," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(5), pages 2003-2049, December.
    2. Berk, Jonathan B, 1995. "A Critique of Size-Related Anomalies," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 8(2), pages 275-286.
    3. Ang, Andrew & Chen, Joseph, 2002. "Asymmetric correlations of equity portfolios," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 443-494, March.
    4. Black, Fischer & Scholes, Myron S, 1973. "The Pricing of Options and Corporate Liabilities," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 81(3), pages 637-654, May-June.
    5. Kofman, Paul & Koedijk, Kees & Campbell, Rachel, 2002. "Increased Correlation in Bear markets: A Downside Risk Perspective," CEPR Discussion Papers 3172, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Leonidas Tsiaras, 2010. "Dynamic Models of Exchange Rate Dependence Using Option Prices and Historical Returns," CREATES Research Papers 2010-35, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.
    2. Zura Kakushadze & Juan Andrés Serur, 2018. "151 Trading Strategies," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-030-02792-6, January.
    3. A. W. Rathgeber & J. Stadler & S. Stöckl, 2021. "The impact of the leverage effect on the implied volatility smile: evidence for the German option market," Review of Derivatives Research, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 95-133, July.
    4. Matthias R. Fengler & Helmut Herwartz & Christian Werner, 2012. "A Dynamic Copula Approach to Recovering the Index Implied Volatility Skew," Journal of Financial Econometrics, Oxford University Press, vol. 10(3), pages 457-493, June.
    5. Nicola F. Zaugg & Lech A. Grzelak, 2024. "Basket Options with Volatility Skew: Calibrating a Local Volatility Model by Sample Rearrangement," Papers 2407.02901, arXiv.org.
    6. Benjamin Jourdain & Mohamed Sbai, 2012. "Coupling index and stocks," Quantitative Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(5), pages 805-818, March.
    7. José Da Fonseca & Katrin Gottschalk, 2020. "The Co‐Movement of Credit Default Swap Spreads, Equity Returns and Volatility: Evidence from Asia‐Pacific Markets," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 20(3), pages 551-579, September.
    8. Antoine Jacquier & Saad Slaoui, 2007. "Variance Dispersion and Correlation Swaps," Birkbeck Working Papers in Economics and Finance 0712, Birkbeck, Department of Economics, Mathematics & Statistics.
    9. Ulze, Markus & Stadler, Johannes & Rathgeber, Andreas W., 2021. "No country for old distributions? On the comparison of implied option parameters between the Brownian motion and variance gamma process," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 163-184.
    10. Shuonan Yuan & Marc Oliver Rieger, 2021. "Diversification with options and structured products," Review of Derivatives Research, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 55-77, April.
    11. Félix, Luiz & Kräussl, Roman & Stork, Philip, 2013. "The 2011 European short sale ban on financial stocks: A cure or a curse?," CFS Working Paper Series 2013/17, Center for Financial Studies (CFS).
    12. Dimos S. Kambouroudis & David G. McMillan & Katerina Tsakou, 2021. "Forecasting realized volatility: The role of implied volatility, leverage effect, overnight returns, and volatility of realized volatility," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(10), pages 1618-1639, October.
    13. Lech A. Grzelak & Juliusz Jablecki & Dariusz Gatarek, 2022. "Efficient Pricing and Calibration of High-Dimensional Basket Options," Papers 2206.09877, arXiv.org.
    14. Tzang, Shyh-Weir & Wang, Chou-Wen & Yu, Min-Teh, 2016. "Systematic risk and volatility skew," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 72-87.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jianlei Han & Martina Linnenluecke & Zhangxin Liu & Zheyao Pan & Tom Smith, 2019. "A general equilibrium approach to pricing volatility risk," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(4), pages 1-18, April.
    2. Torben G. Andersen & Tim Bollerslev & Peter F. Christoffersen & Francis X. Diebold, 2005. "Volatility Forecasting," PIER Working Paper Archive 05-011, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
    3. Andersen, Torben G. & Bollerslev, Tim & Christoffersen, Peter F. & Diebold, Francis X., 2006. "Volatility and Correlation Forecasting," Handbook of Economic Forecasting, in: G. Elliott & C. Granger & A. Timmermann (ed.), Handbook of Economic Forecasting, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 15, pages 777-878, Elsevier.
    4. Ozer-Imer, Itir & Ozkan, Ibrahim, 2014. "An empirical analysis of currency volatilities during the recent global financial crisis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 394-406.
    5. Carol Alexandra & Leonardo M. Nogueira, 2005. "Optimal Hedging and Scale Inavriance: A Taxonomy of Option Pricing Models," ICMA Centre Discussion Papers in Finance icma-dp2005-10, Henley Business School, University of Reading, revised Nov 2005.
    6. Andrew Patton, 2002. "(IAM Series No 001) On the Out-Of-Sample Importance of Skewness and Asymetric Dependence for Asset Allocation," FMG Discussion Papers dp431, Financial Markets Group.
    7. Jun, Doobae & Ku, Hyejin, 2015. "Static hedging of chained-type barrier options," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 317-327.
    8. Suleyman Basak & Georgy Chabakauri, 2012. "Dynamic Hedging in Incomplete Markets: A Simple Solution," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 25(6), pages 1845-1896.
    9. René Garcia & Richard Luger & Eric Renault, 2000. "Asymmetric Smiles, Leverage Effects and Structural Parameters," Working Papers 2000-57, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics.
    10. Stentoft, Lars, 2005. "Pricing American options when the underlying asset follows GARCH processes," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 576-611, September.
    11. Carvalho, Augusto & Guimaraes, Bernardo, 2018. "State-controlled companies and political risk: Evidence from the 2014 Brazilian election," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 66-78.
    12. Jurczenko, Emmanuel & Maillet, Bertrand & Negrea, Bogdan, 2002. "Revisited multi-moment approximate option pricing models: a general comparison (Part 1)," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 24950, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    13. Christoffersen, Peter & Heston, Steven & Jacobs, Kris, 2010. "Option Anomalies and the Pricing Kernel," Working Papers 11-17, University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School, Weiss Center.
    14. Luiz Vitiello & Ser-Huang Poon, 2022. "Option pricing with random risk aversion," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 58(4), pages 1665-1684, May.
    15. Yeap, Claudia & Kwok, Simon S. & Choy, S. T. Boris, 2016. "A Flexible Generalised Hyperbolic Option Pricing Model and its Special Cases," Working Papers 2016-14, University of Sydney, School of Economics.
    16. Sleire, Anders D. & Støve, Bård & Otneim, Håkon & Berentsen, Geir Drage & Tjøstheim, Dag & Haugen, Sverre Hauso, 2022. "Portfolio allocation under asymmetric dependence in asset returns using local Gaussian correlations," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 46(PB).
    17. Chang, Eric C. & Ren, Jinjuan & Shi, Qi, 2009. "Effects of the volatility smile on exchange settlement practices: The Hong Kong case," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 98-112, January.
    18. José Valentim Machado Vicente & Jaqueline Terra Moura Marins, 2019. "A Volatility Smile-Based Uncertainty Index," Working Papers Series 502, Central Bank of Brazil, Research Department.
    19. Jobst, Andreas A., 2014. "Measuring systemic risk-adjusted liquidity (SRL)—A model approach," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 270-287.
    20. Diego Amaya & Jean-François Bégin & Geneviève Gauthier, 2022. "The Informational Content of High-Frequency Option Prices," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(3), pages 2166-2201, March.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G13 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Contingent Pricing; Futures Pricing

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:oup:revfin:v:8:y:2004:i:1:p:109-127.. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Oxford University Press (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/eufaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.